


The Way the Dandelions Bloom

by Animal_Arithmetic



Category: The Witcher (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Bisexual Jaskier | Dandelion, Charity Auctions, First Dates, Fluff and Humor, Fundraisers, Geralt and Yennefer are BFFs, Geralt has social anxiety, Geralt is a mess, M/M, Musician Jaskier | Dandelion, Mutual Pining, Past Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg, Pining Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Soft Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Thirsty Jaskier | Dandelion, chaotic bi Jaskier, disaster bi geralt, grad student Geralt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:34:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22981825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Animal_Arithmetic/pseuds/Animal_Arithmetic
Summary: Yennefer drags Geralt to a charity auction and, unfortunately, Geralt lands a date with the cute musical theatre major he's been pining for over the last few years.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 30
Kudos: 648





	1. The Auction

There was only one thing Geralt hated more than anything in the universe: crowds.

Well. And stupid people. But they tended to gravitate towards crowds, so...

Geralt sighed as Yennefer continued to drag him towards—something. Some fundraiser or something done by their college music club, he wasn’t entirely too sure. But it was sure to be crowded, Yen had assured him, and full of people and children and whatever else was at fundraisers. Baked goods, probably. It was for the community theatre, Yen had told him, so they could host workshops or whatever for kids and do summer programs. It was for a good cause, Yen had assured him.

But Geralt wasn’t so sure he would enjoy it.

But, apparently, he owed Yen a favor, so he had grabbed a blank check, stuck it in his wallet, and reluctantly gotten into Yen’s car to accompany her.

Inside the community center, Yen excitedly dragged him towards the longest wall after they had gotten their bidding numbers. Tables lined the entire wall and the short wall at the back and people seemed to be moving in a very slow line starting from the left and going to the right. At the far left of the room was a small stage, empty except for a microphone and large speakers and a podium.

Above the tables were pieces of artworks from some of the kids that were also part of the silent auction. Mostly drawings and pictures, but there were a few macaroni and popsicle stick picture frames and yarn wall decorations as well. They were obviously done by small children—some were more scribbles than anything recognizable—but they had tiny little ‘plaques’ next to each art piece with a title, name and age of the artist, and a brief description of the medium used.

Too fucking cute.

On the tables were items donated by local businesses. The farm and ranch supply store offered several certificates for jeans or boots. Another was a basket of dog toys. A pair of sunglasses. Girl Scout Cookies. Face care basket. Handmade welcome signs. Metal signs. There were so many options that Geralt couldn’t really decide what he wanted to bid on. Sure, it was for a good cause, but there was nothing he could use or anything. Maybe something from the baked good silent auction?

“You know,” said Yen in that sly, conniving way of hers. “They’re also auctioning off the college students.”

“Hmm.”

“Mhmm.” She poked him in the chest and he frowned down at her. He didn’t like the way she was smiling at him. “Mostly to help the older people with labor or cleaning around the house, but...” And here she grinned that dangerous grin of hers that always threatened to either kill him or put him in jail. “This year they’re also auctioning off some of them for dates.”

“You don’t say.”

“I do say.” She stared up at him, violet eyes twinkling menacingly. “I heard Jaskier is being auctioned off for a date.”

Geralt narrowed his eyes at her as she turned to continue looking at the tables, blood running cold. “Who?”

“Don’t play coy.” And now she sounded annoyed. _Great_. “I know you go see all his performances when he’s listed on the website, even if he isn’t the main musician or dancer or whatever.”

“No I don’t,” he automatically denied, trying to calm his racing heart. Yen could sniff out his lies like no other.

Yen pulled out her phone, unlocked it, tapped on something on the screen, then turned it around to show him without a word. He squinted at the screen, trying to understand what he was seeing. It was a map? With a... yellow dot? At the community center?

“I downloaded find my friends onto your phone and so now I can track where you are.”

_What?_

He pulled out his own phone and searched for the app. _Oh_ , she was sneaky. She had put it on the page of apps he never used. Geralt glared at her, but she seemed unconcerned, turning back to the tables.

“You could bid for a date with Jaskier,” she continued innocently, as if she weren’t some sort of evil mastermind.

 _Why_ was he friends with her again? Geralt honestly didn’t know—maybe because they had known each other for too long, or maybe because they used to date, or—Well. Whatever. Point was, he didn’t know why he still allowed her to do all this to him.

Looking at her, though... It was probably because he still loved her, no matter what. Platonically, of course—that had been the entire reason they had broken up in the first place. Sure, the sex had been amazing—but he just couldn’t get to the point of loving her romantically.

To which she suggested he might be gay, which didn’t sound quite right to him. But, they’d broken up and become better friends for it, anyway.

Even if she was a conniving, evil witch.

“Oooh! Cheesecake!”

Geralt rolled his eyes and followed after her.

They passed by the tables a few more times so Yen could up her bids on whichever items she picked. Geralt decided to just bid on a plate of oatmeal raisin cookies no one else had bid on. They were good, healthy-ish, and he put down ten dollars because, as Yen reminded him, it was for a good cause. He also put a bid down on a necklace Renfri might like for her birthday, but wasn’t too concerned about if he would get that one or not.

But the place was crowded, and people kept jostling him, muttering quiet apologies and skittering away when they saw his resting bitch face. Children scampered about, running between people and laughing with no regard to personal space. Voices echoed a little too loudly against the big, wide room and someone was wearing a really pungent floral scent. And it was hot, too, with all the bodies milling around.

Geralt’s skin itched. He wanted to leave, but Yen wanted to stay.

“You okay?” she asked, placing a light hand on his arm to draw him out of his thoughts.

He slowly shook his head. “Yeah. Just—a little much.”

“Well.” She chewed on her bottom lip a moment, glancing around and then down at her phone. “Looks like things are wrapping up and they’ll start the bidding on the college students while they do their thing for the silent auction. Wanna go save us some seats?”

Geralt nodded and turned, easily towering over most of the people there, scanning for a good seat. Close to the edge of a row, probably, in case it really got too overwhelming and he needed to leave.

Clutching his bidding number tight in hand, he wove his way through the crowd and tried to find the closest chairs to the door. He found seats towards the back, a few rows back from the door. He sat straight, observing the rest of the crowd as the host announced that the silent auction would end in five minutes and if people would take their seats, that would be _splendid_. Geralt didn’t see Yen in the crowd, but he supposed she was making one last round for her items. People were lining up on the stage and Geralt sat up a little straighter when he thought he saw Jaskier towards the middle.

The man was wearing... was that pastel pink jeans? He was sure that’s what Yen had said that particular color was. Or was it salmon? Or was that orange? Whatever. They looked good on the other man, paired with a cream colored loose shirt that was tucked in the front but not the back.

Fuck.

Why did Jaskier always have to look so _good_? It really wasn’t fair.

“There you are!” Yen startled him out of his daze as she squeezed by to sit next to him. “So I think I got the Girl Scout cookies and that purple necklace and earring set at the very least. I’m hoping I got that popcorn basket, but that damn number thirty-seven has been fighting me on it all afternoon.”

“Hmm.”

“Oh, I see Jaskier up there,” said Yen with that same sly tone from earlier.

“Yes,” Geralt grunted back. “I saw him, too.”

Please don’t—

“ _You know_ ,” she continued, sitting up straighter and craning her neck to get a better look at Jaskier who was joking with someone beside him. “He’s kind of cute, in that... playful, twinkish way. I wouldn’t mind a date with him.”

“Hmm.”

“Hmm? Not going to say anything?”

“Nope.”

“Mhmm.” She sat back a little too smugly for his liking, crossing her arms as she looked up at him.

But then the auctioneer was getting started with some of the bigger items that the shop kids had donated. A few coffee tables, a large metal bench swing, a few coolers that someone had donated, and even a photoshoot. Geralt didn’t care about any of those. He was saving his money to outbid Yen if she really decided to try to bid for a date with Jaskier.

Geralt _couldn’t_ let Yen win. She would eat the poor boy alive!

... Probably literally.

The auctioneer talked a little too quickly for Geralt to really keep up with what was going on. It didn’t help that there were several guys shouting as people raised their bidding cards. It still made his skin itch and he _really_ wanted to leave but—

But he couldn’t let Yen win that date with Jaskier.

 _Finally_ they got to the students. Each student had a number pinned to their chest—but some also had a letter under the number.

“Alright, folks!” the host said with a flourish. “Now we’ll be auctioning off the students! They’re all willing to help with cleaning or small labor tasks and you will only get them for one day for no more than eight hours. We would appreciate it if you fed and watered them during their time with you,” he said with a snicker. Several people in the audience laughed as well, though Geralt wasn’t quite sure what was so funny about that. “Some, however, are offering other services. Todd, number four, is willing to provide help with animals—be it giving them a bath or taking them on walks; Susie, number seven, is offering helping with groceries and other errands; and Jaskier, number ten, is offering an in-home spa day.”

“That’s what _you_ need,” Yen muttered.

“Shut up.”

The auction went by quickly—the bids went up in five dollar increments and no one paid more than seventy-five dollars for a student. Geralt glared Yen into submission when she tried to bid on Jaskier for a spa day, to which she smirked at and tossed her hair that told Geralt he wasn’t going to like her retribution.

“And now for the dates!” the host announced after the work students had been auctioned off. Those with letters on their chests stayed on the stage as the others walked off. There were only six, and Jaskier was last, unfortunately.

“First up is Stacie...” The host gave a brief description of each student and bids were placed, but no one ever passed one hundred dollars.

“And finally, we have Jaskier!” Geralt fidgeted in his chair when he saw Yen smirking at him. Up on the stage, Jaskier gave the crowd a flourishing bow and a boyish grin. “He’s a twenty-two year old musical theatre major who is willing to go on a date with anyone—” Yen elbowed him at that, which Geralt scowled back at her, “and he enjoys the beach, romance, and music festivals.”

Yup. Geralt totally didn’t have a chance to make anything work between them, so why bother trying? Why go on a date he knew wouldn’t go anywhere—

Fuck. Yen was already bidding.

_Fuck._

He really couldn’t let her have that date with Jaskier. With a grimace, he raised his own bidding number, flinching when the man watching for bidders shouted.

Beside him, Yen only grinned and raised her number again.

Back and forth and back and forth they went, Geralt glaring at her and Yen smirking at him. Geralt got lost at what number they were at, but he didn’t care as long as _Yen didn’t get that date_. He only glanced up once to see that it was only him and Yen battling, and the people on stage were staring at them with wide eyes. Jaskier looked the most shocked, mouth agape as the number apparently kept climbing.

And then, suddenly, Yennefer sat back, arms crossed, smirking that infernal evil smirk.

“Three hundred going once—”

Wait.

“Three hundred going twice—”

What?

“Three hundred sold, to number—” the man made some weird gesture with his hands, “twenty-nine!” A round of applause startled Geralt out of his shock. Twenty-nine was _his_ number. Had he really just paid three hundred dollars for a date?! “Thank you so much for your generous contribution!”

_Fuck._

Yen licked her lips, still smirking up at him. “Thought you weren’t interested?”

“I couldn’t let _you_ have a date with him.”

“Uh _huh_.” She stood and nearly pushed him out of his chair to join the crowd gathering behind the stage where they had placed the winners for the silent auction. Ah, great.

Geralt stood back, allowing Yen to elbow her way through the crowd to get her items. At least she was nice enough to pick up his cookies, too. It hurt, a little, to hand over the check to the cashier. He was a grad student and really didn’t have three hundred dollars to just throw away on top of having to pay for a date, now, apparently.

_Fuck._

The cashier directed him towards where the students who had been auctioned off were milling so they could hash out the details with their... “owners”? Ugh. The whole thing was just a little creepy, but he sort of didn’t have a say anymore. Pretending he wasn’t a nervous fucking wreck, he walked up to Jaskier who was talking with a _very_ pregnant woman and presumably her husband or boyfriend or whatever.

Geralt hung back, waiting for them to finish. Yen teased him enough that he was bad with social interactions that he didn’t need to fuel it even more.

Finally, they exchanged numbers and she went on her way. And then Jaskier was turning to him with a brilliant grin.

“Hello!” he said, taking the few steps between them in a single bounce. In the three years he had been watching Jaskier perform, he hadn't realized the other man would almost be as tall as him. Much skinnier, since Geralt had so much muscle, but he didn't even have to look down. Huh. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I—Uh—Have a date with you?” Geralt immediately cringed. Fuck, why did he always have to sound so awkward?

If possible, Jaskier brightened even more. “That was _you_? Oh, wow. Thank you _so_ much for your contribution,” he gushed, taking Geralt’s hand and pumping it up and down enthusiastically. “I didn’t know I was worth three hundred dollars!”

“I couldn’t let Yen have the date,” he replied truthfully.

“Yen?”

“My friend.” Geralt turned to see where she was. She was several feet away, watching them with a smirk. “She would eat you. Alive, probably.”

Jaskier chuckled nervously. “Like, in a sexy way, or...?”

“No. Probably literally.”

Jaskier turned wide, frightened eyes to Yen, then back to Geralt.

“That was a joke.”

“Oh. Ha, ha,” he laughed nervously. “S-Sure. Uhm, so what were you thinking?” When Geralt just blinked in confusion at him, he added, “For the date? Where would you like to go? When?”

Oh. Right. The date. “You can decide.” Part of the reason he and Yen had broken up was because he was shit at taking her out on dates, too. He just wasn't "romantic" enough for her.

Ah, fuck. This really wasn’t going to go well and Jaskier was going to have the worst date in his life.

Fuck.

Jaskier frowned thoughtfully. “Why don’t we meet at that grocery store on fifth street?”

Geralt blinked several times. The... grocery store? “Uh... Okay?”

“Yeah, yeah! Tomorrow at... eleven forty-five? In the morning, just to clarify.”

“Uhm. Yeah, okay. That sounds fine.”

“Perfect!” Jaskier beamed at him, all bright smiles and—whoa, how had Geralt not noticed how... _blue_ his eyes were? “Let me see your phone right quick?”

It was then that Geralt realized that Jaskier still had his hand clasped in both of his. Shakily, he pulled his hand away to fish out his phone to give it to Jaskier after he unlocked it. Jaskier was quick to put in his phone number and text himself.

“There!” Jaskier said, handing it back to him. “Just in case something happens. I’ll see you tomorrow!”

And with that, he bounced away to go help clean up.

❤️❤️❤️Jaskier❤️❤️❤️ read the contact name. Emojis? _Heart_ emojis? This boy was just too fucking cute for Geralt poor little heart.

“ _So_ ,” Yen drawled as she sidled up to him. “When’s the date?”

“Fuck off, Yen.”

She laughed at him the entire way to her car.


	2. The Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaskier and Geralt go on their Date.

Jaskier sighed wistfully as he watched Mr. McDreamy do his yoga poses several dozen yards away. There was always a group of them on Tuesday afternoons when the weather permitted, and this was the first Tuesday of the semester where it had been warm enough for the group to meet up and grace the entire campus with their stunning beauty and elegantly bendy poses.

Also. _That ass_.

“You’re drooling.”

Jaskier startled, wiping the back of his wrist against his mouth. Damn it. There wasn’t anything there. He turned to glare at who dared interrupt him but stopped, mouth agape, at the stunning beauty before him. Dark, wavy locks, brilliant purple eyes, bosom—

“Stop.”

Right.

“Why are you staring at my friend?”

“What?” Jaskier cleared his throat to bring his voice down a few octaves. “I wasn’t staring at your friend!”

“White hair, black muscle tank top to show off those _wonderful_ arms, ass so perfectly sculpted you could bounce a quarter off it?” She settled back on the bench, looking a little too smug.

“Okay...” he said slowly, narrowing his eyes at her. “What do you want?”

She pretended to look offended, eyes wide and mouth open and hand clutching non-existent pearls and all. “Why would you say such a thing?”

“Call it a feeling.”

She looked at him for a long moment. “Fine.” She heaved a great big sigh, as if _he_ were inconveniencing _her_. _Rude._ “I’m trying to set him up on a date. You seem like a good candidate.”

_“Me?!”_

“Yes, _you_.”

“You don’t even know me!”

“I know enough.” What the fuck was _that_ supposed to mean? He’d never seen this crazy woman in his life! “Now do you want a date with Geralt or not?”

“Geralt?” So McDreamy had an interesting name. Okay, so, maybe he could overlook the crazy if she was really trying to set him up. Wait. “He likes guys?”

She looked conflicted at that, frowning over at the yoga group thoughtfully. She bit her bottom lip, let it go, breathed deep. “Well. Maybe. We used to date, and, believe me, the sex was great—” Jaskier choked and she ignored him, unconcerned at his near-death. “But there was also... something missing. We dated for years and he never told me he loved me, but when I told him I was in love with him he looked like he wanted to vomit.”

“Ouch.”

“Ouch indeed.” She continued watching the yoga group, long, elegant fingers tapping on her thighs. “I think he’s gay, or at least homoromantic, or something. But he’s too scared to figure it out for himself. _So_ , I’m being a good friend a pushing him along.” She cut her violet eyes over to him with a small smirk. “That is, if you’re willing to help him out a little.”

He was going to get a date with Geralt! So what if the guy was still figuring it out and his best friend was fucking insane, apparently? Jaskier was _more_ than happy to help him explore his sexuality.

“Of course I am! I mean!” He tried to backpedal at her glare. Scary _and_ hot. Yikes. “I meant yes, I would very much like a date with Geralt, if you could be so kind.”

She didn’t look very impressed with him, but, then again, most people weren’t. “The music club you’re in,” she said slowly. “They’re doing a charity auction for the community theatre in a few weeks, right? And they’re going to auction off some of the college students for work and for dates, yes?”

“Uh, yeah...” Where the hell was she going with this?

“Make sure you will be auctioned off for a date and I’ll take care of the rest.” She stood suddenly, even more abruptly than when she had arrived. “Don’t disappoint me, Jaskier.”

“Wait, how did—”

She raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him, silencing him. Without saying a word, she turned and walked away.

Okay, then...

Looked like he might get a date with McDreamy.

With possible scenarios running through his head, Jaskier turned to continue watching Geralt stretch into the downward dog pose.

_Oh yeah..._

* * *

The _grocery store_?!

What was Jaskier _thinking_?!

Okay, honestly, he fucking wasn’t. He thought it would be cute to take Geralt on a non-expensive date, since he had just spent _three hundred dollars_ on Jaskier. Three! Hundred! Dollars! On _Jaskier_ , of all people! No one else had even come _close_ to bidding that much for the other dates!

Oh, lord. Maybe Jaskier needed to sit down...

He was early—only by fifteen minutes, but that was because he was nervous, okay? Sure, he had Geralt’s number—and he had been fucking _slick_ to get that, okay?—so they wouldn’t accidentally miss each other or something. But he was waiting for Geralt so they could get some food from the deli and trek over to the park a few blocks away for a little picnic. It would be cute and romantic and Geralt would fall in love with him and they’d get married and have babies—

Whoa. Wait. Getting a little ahead of himself there. Oops.

... _oh_.

It was _fine_. Everything was going to be _fine_.

Geralt was walking up to him, dressed entirely in black. Black combat boots, black jeans, black button up with the top two buttons undone (showing that his chest hair was just as white as the hair on his head, interestingly enough) and sleeves rolled to his elbows to show off his sinfully perfect forearms. Jesus fucking Christ. Jaskier’s bisexuality was taking a _hard_ nosedive into _Definitely Gay_ for this man and he had to swallow down the saliva collecting in his mouth. Several times. Oh, how he wanted to see what was under his shirt... his pants... And—oh, that was _adorable_. Geralt was wearing a silver pendant of a howling wolf.

“Geralt! Hi!” Wait. No. Calm yourself, idiot! Don’t look too eager!

But Geralt’s “scary face” seemed to soften a little, at least. “Hello, Jaskier.”

Oh boy. His voice was just as husky as yesterday and sent shivers racing down his spine. Wait. Cool yourself, Jaskier. You got this. “You ready for the date?”

Geralt looked up at the face of the grocery store, brown pinched a little in confusion. “We’re... going grocery shopping? That’s an odd date...”

Jaskier grinned and linked his arm around Geralt’s to tug him into the store. “I was more thinking we’d buy something for lunch from the deli and then go to the park to eat. It’s nice enough out, don’t you think? You seem like an outdoorsy kind of guy!”

Oops. Jaskier couldn’t let him know that he enjoyed Geralt’s Tuesday afternoons.

But Geralt didn’t seem to notice that Jaskier maybe knew a bit too much. “Hmm. I suppose.”

Jaskier chattered as they picked out their sandwiches and chips and drinks and chattered as they paid and chattered as they made the quick walk to the park and chattered as he pulled the blanket out of his backpack and chattered as he ate. He couldn’t help it—he was nervous and when he was nervous his mouth just ran too much and he didn’t know how to stop it. And Geralt was frowning at him, staring intently at him as he chewed slowly on his food, nodding and grunting and huffing when Jaskier paused for breath.

Oh, no. He hadn’t let Geralt get a word in this entire time.

Shit.

He was royally fucking this all up.

He clamped his mouth shut, swallowing the metal ball of sandwich that settled a little too heavily in his stomach. Geralt was watching him, head tilted to the side just a little. The top part of his hair was pulled back so it wouldn’t get in his face and it was just so cute but Jaskier had fucked the entire thing up by taking up too much space, talking too much, making it all about him just like always—

“I—I’m sorry,” Jaskier managed to choke out.

Startled, Geralt’s frown deepened. “For what?”

“I’m just talking too much and not letting you talk at all and I’m making this all about me when it should be an equality thing and—”

“I...” Geralt lowered his sandwich to his lap, looking at that instead of at Jaskier. His shoulders were hunching up towards his ears, his head lowering, as if he were trying to make himself smaller. With all that bulk, it was physically impossible, but it was endearingly cute all the same. “I’m... not good—with talking. I like listening. To you. Talk, I mean. Right now. Not—I mean. Uhm.”

Were his cheeks pink? They looked pink.

Ah, criminey. Why did he have to be so freaking _cute_?

“Well, it’s a good thing I like talking, then!” Jaskier said, feeling much brighter at Geralt’s comment. “But I _would_ like to know more about you, if you don’t mind. I mean, if you’d like? Even if this is just a one-off date, I still think I’d like to be your friend.”

Geralt went so still that Jaskier was afraid he had stopped breathing. Ah, fuck. What had he said to get _that_ reaction?

“You...” said Geralt, slowly, as if still trying to figure out what to say. “You want another date?”

Oh.

“Oh. Uhm.” Jaskier scratched his neck, laughing nervously. “Honestly, I’ve been trying to gather the courage to talk to you and ask you out for months, now.”

If possible, Geralt looked even more startled at that. His amber eyes were wide as he finally looked up from his lap. “What?”

“Yeah... Sorry if that’s creepy. I saw you doing yoga on the quad a few years ago and after that I kept seeing you around but, uh, I never got the courage to go up to you,” Jaskier admitted, smile feeling a little wobbly.

“Oh.” Geralt’s cheeks were even more red, now. “I—I’ve been to almost all your concerts and plays and dances.”

_What?_

“Excuse me?”

“I—I’m sorry,” Geralt stammered, hunching in on himself again.

Oh no. _No no no no no_. He couldn’t have that! Jaskier reached out, laying a light hand on Geralt’s knee that had come up to tuck against his chest. “Geralt, no, I didn’t mean I was mad! I was surprised!”

Geralt looked up, amber eyes wide and frightened and breath coming maybe a little quick. What was going on?

“Geralt, darling, what’s wrong?”

If possible, his eyes got even wider and his cheeks turned even more red.

“Shit. Sorry. I won’t—”

“No—I—I liked it.” Geralt drew in a shaky breath, closing his eyes as if preparing himself. “I’m sorry. I’ve got—anxiety, kind of. Uhm. I’m just really nervous.”

A big guy like him? Nervous? He could squish Jaskier with one arm if he wanted!

But... Then again, Jaskier knew that anxiety wasn’t very rational in the first place. That, and it was best not to try to stereotype hot, muscly guys. Case in point—this one was adorable and shy and apparently had seen most of his performances. How or why he got into that, Jaskier didn’t know, but refrained from asking even as the question clawed across his tongue. Geralt looked like he had been embarrassed enough for one day. No need to make him even more uncomfortable.

“You’ve nothing to be nervous about,” Jaskier tried to say soothingly. He knew anxiety sort of messed up perceptions or whatever.

“You’re not... weirded out by me basically stalking you?”

“Honey,” Jaskier said, cocking an eyebrow and smirking, laying his hand firmer on Geralt’s knee, “I’m been watching you do yoga for _years_. I’m only weirded out if you are.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Slowly, Jaskier drew his hand away. No need to get too much into his personal bubble. Geralt seemed to relax a little, too, and Jaskier tried not to feel too hurt about that. He needed to remind himself that not everyone enjoyed touch, or maybe Geralt was feeling a little overwhelmed. He sat back. Geralt unwound from his little ball.

“Here.” Jaskier pushed aside his food, no longer hungry, and shimmied across the blanket until he could lay down with his head on the blanket and so the grass tickled his ankles. “Lay down? Does this help?”

Geralt grunted, but moved aside his own food and scooted over until he was lying next to Jaskier. There was still several inches of space between them. Jaskier stretched out the fingers closest to Geralt until they touched his hand, slowly pulling his pinky away once he figured out where Geralt’s hand was. Hopefully that would let Geralt know he was open to hand holding, but it still gave Geralt the power to decide if they would.

They stared up at the leaves above them, watching them sway and rustle in the light breeze. The park was busy, sure, but it was almost like they were in their own little world under this tree. It was nice, Jaskier thought. Really nice.

“Yeah,” Geralt grunted after a while. “This helps. It’s good.”

“I have good ideas sometimes.”

“I—I like the date,” Geralt admitted quietly. “It’s nice.”

“I bet going out to restaurants or activities where other people are around is torture, huh?”

“Yeah...”

Hmm. Not ideal, but Jaskier was willing to work around it. As long as Geralt was willing to compromise, too.

Well. If they decided to date, anyway. He hardly knew anything about Geralt, after all.

“Tell me about yourself?”

Geralt’s breath hitched and Jaskier could _hear_ the man tensing at the question. Okay, okay. Back track. Maybe the question was too broad?

“We’ll start simple. What’s your favorite color?”

Back and forth they went; Jaskier would ask a question, Geralt would answer, short and clipped, and Jaskier would give his own before asking another. But over time, Geralt seemed to relax—relax enough that his pinky brushed against Jaskier’s for a moment before hooking them together.

So. Fucking. Cute.

And the more they (well, Jaskier, for the most part) talked, the more interesting Geralt became. He wasn’t just some hot McDreamy guy who had muscles for days and broody personality. He was adorable, and soft, and honest, and sincere.

And then Jaskier just _had_ to know. He _needed_ to know if he would just be some experiment or what so he knew how to guard his heart.

“Can I ask? Are you—” Okay, maybe he shouldn’t mention that strange woman or anything she had said. “Gay? Bi? Ace?”

Silence, for a long stretch. Jaskier looked over to see Geralt glaring at the leaves above them. But he didn’t look angry. More... thoughtful, really. Like he was mulling it over, tasting the words, putting coherence to them before saying them. It took a long while, but Jaskier was willing to wait. Rushing would probably only make him more anxious.

“I’ve—only dated women, so far,” Geralt murmured. “I like the sex, I guess. But... There was always something missing. I—liked them, but I couldn’t—romantically? I guess? It made me feel weird and like I wanted to throw up,” he added even quieter. “Yen—the woman at the fundraiser? We dated, and she wanted to get married...”

Okay, wait, _what_? That would have been nice to know from the beginning! Jaskier only just managed to swallow down his protest. As far as Geralt knew, Jaskier hadn’t ever talked to “Yen” or knew anything about her other than she was his best friend.

“Maybe you’re aromantic?”

Geralt suddenly turned to him, brow pinched curiously. “What’s that?”

“It means you don’t experience romantic attraction, and or you’re repulsed by it. Like, asexual people don’t experience sexual attraction?”

“But I _am_ sexually attracted to you.”

“ _Okay_ , we’ll come back to that later,” he wheezed. Oh dear lord this man was going to kill him. “I just meant that romantic attraction and sexual attraction aren’t always the same. So you could be—bisexual, or pansexual, or whatever—but be homoromantic or aromantic.”

“Oh,” Geralt replied quietly, turning his gaze back to the canopy of leaves above them. “That... makes sense, I guess?”

They returned to silence again. Jaskier was more than happy to let Geralt mull over the new information. It seemed important to him, anyway, and Jaskier didn’t want to interrupt his thoughts.

“What about you?” Geralt finally asked.

“Bi. I fall in love a little too easily,” he said with a chuckle, only to suck in a sharp breath. Shit. He didn’t want to scare Geralt already—

But Geralt was chuckling, moving his warm, calloused palm over the back of Jaskier’s hand, nudging it gently so they could thread their fingers together. Okay, maybe that was a good sign, Jaskier thought, hoping his hand wasn’t too sweaty. But it was—nice. _Really_ nice.

“I... don’t think I’m aromantic,” Geralt confessed. “The thought of falling in love with you doesn’t make me want to vomit, anyway.”

Jaskier just barely managed to hold in a laugh. Instead, he squeezed his hand and gave him a soft smile that Geralt returned and—wow, wasn’t that the most beautiful sight he had ever seen? He wanted to make Geralt smile like that for the rest of his life.

“I’m glad,” he replied, instead of saying the millions of other things he wanted to say.

And if years down the road they eventually get married and Yennefer stands up to give her speech as Geralt’s maid of honor and starts off with, “This whole thing is because I got the two pining idiots together— _you’re welcome_ —”

Well. That’s a story for another time.

* * *

**BONUS:**

As they were leaving the park to head back for their cars back at the grocery store, Jaskier sent his best sultry smile over at Geralt who immediately started blushing.

“What?” he grunted, averting his gaze.

“Want me to give you a hand job?”

Jaskier cackled. Who knew a person’s face could get so red? And stony. And _oh boy_ —

“Think you can handle it?” Geralt shot back, even though his flush was bright and prominent.

“Only one way to find out!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay I had to put in the hand job line in the bonus to pay tribute to one of my most favorite scenes in the show

**Author's Note:**

> Don’t worry!!! There will be even more awkward and adorable Geralt in a second chapter on their ~date~


End file.
